Bedpans and Brothers
by mandrake-o
Summary: On a routine supply run at a hospital, Alec stumbles upon a crazy guy who insists that Alec is his half-brother Dean.


**Bedpans and Brothers  
**

**Author's Note: **This was originally posted on LiveJournal in response to a prompt at the Jam Pony Fic Summer Fest 2012. I did a drawing of Adam that goes with this fic that you can find on LiveJournal (where I am known as mandraco).

**Continuity:** Set post-series for DA and SPN, but switches the Pulse's date to 2013 so that all of Supernatural fits in.

x X X x

They were barely in the front door of the hospital before the other X5s went left, and Alec went right. If Max were here and not cooped up in TC, she'd be telling him off for deviating from the mission, but Alec knew a guy who could get him top dollar for the tranquillisers they use on the patients in the mental health ward. TC needed more than a few bandages and tryptophan pills if they ever wanted the rest of the world to take them seriously.

Breaking into the supply room and grabbing a few boxes of tranqs was easy. But as he was in there, a shift change in the security guards' schedule occurred and the new guys seemed to take their job more seriously. Alec could hardly get four steps before someone was peering down the corridor. Normally he'd just knock the guys out and get on with it, but with anti-transgenic sentiment at an all time high, Alec didn't want to add more fuel to the flames. When this job was over, they could say that it had been transgenics who'd stolen from a poor defenceless hospital, but they wouldn't have any proof.

x x x

Alec had to duck into more than a few patient rooms on his way out of the building. Being the middle of the night, most of the patients were asleep but it was still a risk every time. At the corner, Alec had a second to decide whether he was going to duck into the last room or risk whatever was around the bend. Max's voice in his head told him not to be an idiot, so he quickly opened the door to the last room.

Its only occupant sat up in his bed and loudly proclaimed, "Dean! Fucking finally!"

Considering his options, Alec blurred over and placed his hand over the man's mouth, watching the door for any sign that he'd been heard. Unbelievably, the man still seemed to be talking. Alec looked at the guy. Scratch the 'man' part. He didn't look any older than Alec was. The door to the room was thrown open unceremoniously and Alec let go of the guy's face to get into a better attacking position.

The guard stared at Alec suspiciously. "Who are you?"

"He's my brother," said the patient, as annoyed as if Alec really was his brother. Alec had to commend the guy's acting skills. He wasn't half-bad for a crazy person. "Of course I've been here weeks and he's only seen fit to come visit me now."

Alec smiled his most disarming smile at the guard.

"Well, visiting hours are over," he said. "You'll have to leave."

"Yes sir," said Alec with a casual salute, ready to walk straight out of the hospital with his ill-gotten gains.

"Wait," said the crazy guy, latching onto Alec's arm. "You can't just go. You only just got here. You can't leave me here with all these crazy people. They think I'm nuts. And yeah, okay, maybe I talk too much, but I can't fucking help that. It's been that way ever since I got back and I figured here was as good a place to wait for you as any since they feed me and everything and it's not like I can go home but you're here now and that's all you're going to say? You might as well not have come at all."

The guard was looking between the two young men, suspiciously. "Did you just come in?"

"Don't listen to him," Alec said, twirling his finger beside his temple in the universal sign for crazy.

The guard frowned. "You need to leave, now."

At that moment the guard's walkie-talkie crackled to life calling out some code Alec couldn't decipher. But as the guard's eyes lit on the backpack he had slung over his shoulders, Alec knew it was not good news for him.

"Empty your bag," he said.

Alec was not going to do that. He feigned slipping the bag from his shoulders and socked the man in the face, instead. It didn't fell the man the way Alec had hoped, and the guard was coming back at him with a baton. Alec would have preferred a gun. People were generally reluctant to fire them and in the pause Alec would overpower him. But the Ordinary attacked with the baton, quickly getting Alec on the wrist before he reached for the nearest item to defend himself.

It was an IV stand, bag-free, but enough to keep the baton from hitting Alec as he parried blows and struck occasionally. The guard was tenacious, but Alec had the upper hand. He was one move away from knocking the guard out of commission, just waiting for the correct opening when a bedpan came down on the guard's head, robbing Alec of his victory.

The mental patient looked at the unconscious guard as though he couldn't quite grasp the concept. Alec figured that was probably the case.

"Huh," he said. "He went down easily, didn't he? I mean I didn't hit him that hard. I didn't even get him in the temple or the throat or anything. There's no reason why he should have gone down that quickly. I barely tapped him. And I should know, I studied anatomy a thousand ago." The crazy guy stared at the bedpan in his hands. "What do you think the iron content is like in one of these things? Do you think maybe he was a demon? Possessed by a spirit? We have to get out of here, now. I'm not staying in a hospital where the guards are demons. It'd be like being in regular Hell, but you'd be the one who knows all about that, wouldn't you?" The guy snorted derisively.

"Okay," Alec said, setting down the IV stand. "Thanks for your help, but I'm gonna go now." He pointed his thumb toward the door and followed it.

"Hold the fuck on for one second, Dean," said the crazy guy, advancing on Alec with his bedpan looking completely furious. Alec fell into a defensive posture long ago ingrained at Manticore, caught between fight and flight. "You can't just walk in here and walk right out again as though I'm not right here, damn it. I get it, you don't know me and you're only my half-brother and of course Sam is always going to come first, but I'm a person, a human being just like you and correct me if I'm wrong but weren't you the one who was all 'saving people is more important than everything else' the last time we met? I get why you rescued Sam from the cage and not me, but I'm out now and you can't just leave me in this hospital."

Whatever this guy was on, he needed more of it pronto. "Look," said Alec. "I have no idea who you think I am, but I'm not your brother. I have no idea who the hell you are." Alec backed out of the room slowly.

"I'm Adam!" Alec heard through the door as he shut it behind himself.

x x x

Alec went around the corner as quickly as he could without making a sound. The farther he got from the crazy guy, the better off everyone would be. Undoubtedly Adam (if that was really his name) would forget about him once he wasn't directly in his line of sight. And hey, maybe the guy's brother would actually turn up.

"I'm not done with you yet!"

Alec kept walking, but a moment later, a doctor turned the corner and noticed Alec. "What are you doing?"

"Just keep walking buddy," said Alec. "I'm on my way out."

"Excuse me!" said the doctor.

Alec brushed past him and the doctor went to the phone at the nearest nurses' station and starting calling security. Alec was beyond caring at this point.

Adam was still following him, shouting at Alec to stop. Luckily the doctor seemed more concerned by the fact that a patient was wandering the halls and was distracted by Adam before he could finish his call.

Alec turned when he heard the now familiar sound of a bedpan coming down on a man's head. The doctor fell to the floor and again Adam seemed surprised at the result.

The corner of Alec's mind not devoted to the mission snorted a laugh at Adam's outfit. He was still wearing his hospital issue gown and slippers, but had appropriated the guard's pants, too long and too wide, judging by the way Adam had a fist curled in the material at his hip.

"Dean!"

"I'm not your brother!" Alec kept walking.

"Don't you fucking think I know what your face looks like? Lucifer spent fifty years using it to torture Sam, you know. Michael tried using it on me, too, you know. Since I was dumb enough to say yes to him as though that would make a difference."

"We're in the hospital in the middle of the night. Don't you care about waking anyone up?" Alec hissed. "What the hell is your problem?"

"The doctors think it's schizophrenia with religious delusions," said Adam as though Alec had been expecting an answer to his question. "But I think we both know they're not delusions. I don't actually know what the fuck is wrong with me. I haven't been able to stop the verbal diarrhoea since I got out of the cage and you don't happen to know how that happened, do you? I remember what happened when Sam was in the cage with me. And I remember what happened just before I got out, but all the rest is a blur, man. I mean, a thousand years with Lucifer and Michael? That's gotta be worse than Hell. I can't believe how old I am."

Alec heard the call button for one of the patient rooms go off and gave up. He couldn't argue with a crazy person. "Okay, fine. I'll get you out of here. Just follow me and shut up." He glanced over his shoulder at Adam. "And drop the bedpan."

"I told you I can't shut up," said Adam as he set the bedpan down and followed Alec. He was keeping his voice at a lower level, though, so Alec figured that would have to do.

x x x

Adam continued to call him Dean, and mutter about the devil and some guys named Michael and Sam as they made their way toward Alec's chosen exit, a window in an office on the ground floor. They were just outside the door of the office, when Adam suddenly blurted out, "Hey, is that a barcode on the back of your neck? Why would you do that to yourself?"

Alec saw red. There was no way this guy was plain old crazy. He was working for someone, trying to get Alec caught. The transgenic reacted instantly, whirling on Adam and knocking his head against the nearest wall hard enough to knock him out.

At least, it should have been hard enough, but Adam only held his head still as though the sudden movement had left him nothing more than a touch dizzy. His eyes focused on Alec easily. That wasn't normal. Adam would need to be a transgenic or- a Familiar. That explained everything.

But a Familiar would know he'd been exposed and would have fought back by now.

"That was really hard," Adam said, reaching back to touch the back of his head, feeling for blood. There was none. "You're really not Dean, are you?" Adam reached a hand up to stroke the side of Alec's cheek.

Alec smacked it away. "That's what clued you in?"

Adam held his hand and looked at Alec like a wounded puppy. "I guess that's why you're ten years younger than I thought you'd be."

Maybe Adam was a Familiar, but it looked like he was also actually crazy. Alec appraised him anew. Adam couldn't be argued with, but with his tendency to say whatever came to the top of his head at any given moment, doubtless he'd spill Familiar secrets before long. If he _was_a Familiar. But it was easy enough to ask. Alec figured he'd speak the truth as he knew it.

"Are you a Familiar?"

"What's familiar? I know what's familiar. Your face. Seriously. You look exactly like a younger version of my brother. It's really weird. Are you human? You're not, are you?"

Alec looked around, but no one was in the vicinity. "Transgenic."

"Is that a kind of shapeshifter?"

"No," said Alec. He cut Adam off. "Do you read Ancient Minoan?"

"Not as well as I speak it," said Adam. "Didn't take me half as long to learn as Ancient Greek. Did you know that Michael's a crap teacher? The only way I learned anything is from him repeating things for days at a time."

Familiar or not, it looked like Adam would be able to help them decipher the runes that appeared on Max's skin. Alec weighed the danger and decided it was an acceptable risk to take Adam back to Terminal City.

"Time to go," said Alec, opening the office door and finding it as abandoned as expected.

"Wait a second," said Adam after following Alec into the room. "You've been arguing with me this entire time and now you're just going to let me leave with you? You just slammed my head against the wall. And really hard, too! I don't really know how it didn't hurt more than it did but I've been really weird since I got out of the cage. I mean, I was actually relieved when I got sent to this place because I thought they might be able to figure out what was wrong with me. How fucked up is that?"

Alec ignored the ramble, shut the door behind Adam and opened the window. "Coming or not?" He jumped through easily and was unsurprised when Adam followed a little less elegantly.

x x x

Alec bypassed the designated rendezvous point and just waved when the other X5s saw him go past with Adam in tow. Max would be on his ass for this when he got back but he was used to that after a year of knowing her. It was going to be a long walk back to TC, but Alec could deal. It was kind of refreshing being out on the Seattle streets in the middle of the night. He looked over at Adam who was staring at the buildings around them as though he'd never seen buildings before in his life. It was probably going to be a longer walk for him.

"So, what city is this?" asked Adam. "It looks like a shithole."

Alec looked around. They weren't even in the bad part of town. Sure it wasn't as nice as Logan's area, but in this residential area, there weren't many people out and about. A laundromat was open with one guy manning the desk for nobody. One haggard looking woman was buying cough syrup from the convenience store next door. "It's Seattle."

"I don't remember Seattle looking like this," said Adam.

"Well maybe that's because the last time you saw it you weren't crazy."

Adam laughed, shattering the silence when dogs started barking a bass line accompaniment.

They had to get off the street. Alec could see a hover drone heading in their direction and maybe Adam wasn't suspicious, but Alec's face was all over news reports of the transgenics taking over Terminal City.

Alec steered Adam into the shadows of the nearest building. "Be quiet," Alec said, alert for any sign of people stirring.

"You know I have trouble with that," Adam hissed. "I can't exactly help it. You don't really think I like saying every damn stupid thing that comes into my head? I mean, I know no one's going to believe me about the devil and the Apocalypse and the cage and all of that spills out like too much tomato soup. I used to be a normal guy. Just a college student trying to become a doctor."

"Sure, whatever," said Alec, keeping them moving. "But if you get caught by sector cops I am not going down with you."

"What makes you so sure that you're going to be able to get away if I get caught? What makes you so much better than me?"

"For one thing, I'm not crazy."

"Are you sure about that?" asked Adam. "Because you're letting a crazy guy tag along with you to wherever it is you're going. And I didn't ask you what you were doing in the hospital in the middle of the night because I thought you were my brother, but a normal guy doesn't hide from guards in patient rooms after lights out. I remember that much about being alive."

"The general population isn't a fan of my lifestyle."

"Something that tells me that's an understatement," said Adam.

x x x

Alec and his crazy companion got about two blocks before Adam spoke up again. "I probably should have asked this before- Actually, I asked the nurses at the hospital but they wouldn't tell me. Can you believe that? I think they didn't want to upset my delicate mental state. News flash, my mental state is not so delicate. If I was going to degenerate any farther than I already have, it would have happened in the last thousand years. I might not be able to control myself, but that doesn't mean I'm an idiot."

They were nearing a sector fence. Alec started scaling the nearest building, digging his fingers and toes into the spaces between the bricks. It was time to really test if Adam was a Familiar.

Adam stood at the bottom of the building and looked up at Alec. "Are you even listening to me? You didn't answer my question."

"You didn't ask a question," said Alec, judging the distance between this building and the one on the other side of the fence. He could make it in a standing jump. He suspected Adam might need more than that, but this was the safest way to get past the checkpoint.

"What year is it? How long have I been in Hell?"

"Well I can't answer your second question," said Alec, briefly considering lying just to mess with the guy. He rejected the idea since he was still hoping to get his help. "But it's 2022."

Adam was silently processing that.

"Are you coming or not?"

"All right, all right," said Adam. "Some of us need a little more than the grout spaces between bricks to scale a building, you know. How the fuck did you do that, anyway?"

"Use the windowsills," said Alec. "Don't touch the glass."

Adam would make a very mediocre cat burglar. He clambered up with no finesse and hung for a long moment before pulling himself over each windowsill. One he was standing on the last one, Alec hauled him up onto the rooftop without warning.

"Now," said Alec. "We need to jump from this rooftop to that one over on the other side of the fence without being lit up by any of those spotlights, touching the fence, or being seen by any of those hover drones. Got that?"

"Jump over seriously wide gap," said Adam. "Sure. Great. Whatever. It's not like I haven't died before. What's the worst that could happen anyway? I guess I'd end up back at the hospital and since you're not actually my brother, that's no worse off than I started the night."

"I like your enthusiasm," said Alec. He double-checked that his backpack was zipped shut, ran two steps, then leapt over the fence, landing on the next rooftop silently. He looked back to see if Adam would manage.

"How the fuck did he just do that?" Adam asked himself. "That's like fifteen feet."

"I'm not waiting until dawn," Alec called back.

"Yeah, okay, I can do this," said Adam. "Lucifer tried to make me do worse in the early years. This is just a couple of broken bones. Maybe. Hell, maybe I'll even die again. That could be sweet. Regular Hell would be an experience."

Adam ran the length of the rooftop and leaped. He made it cleanly over the fence, but his jump fell just short of the rooftop. Luckily, Alec wasn't too keen on getting caught, and he managed to grab Adam and set his ass down on the rooftop. "You're welcome," he said.

"You could have waited for me to say thank you," said Adam, breathing heavily with the adrenaline from the jump. "I would have said it eventually."

"Hurry up," said Alec. "We're not quite halfway there and I do not want to be out here when dawn breaks."

"God, how far is this place?"

The building had a fire escape, so apart from the drop at the base where the ladder was missing, it was much easier to climb down.

"Why am I even following you?" Adam asked. "Oh, fuck. You said it was 2022. You're his son. I'm an uncle. No one ever told me. God, does he even know about you? I bet he doesn't. That sucks. I didn't meet my dad until I was twelve. Then I had three years of thinking he was just this guy whose work took him all over the States, when he was hiding a completely different life. Never even fucking told me I had brothers. Sam said he was just like him but wow. That's amazing."

"Whoa," said Alec. "I am nobody's son."

"Obviously you've never met Dean," said Adam. "The family resemblance is amazing. You literally look exactly like him. And in my time, everyone says literally when they mean figuratively. I mean 'literally' literally."

"Whatever," said Alec, feeling uncomfortable about the whole thing. If Adam was right about him looking exactly like his brother, that means his brother was probably used as a genetic template. He'd always thought his looks were Manticore given, not Manticore stolen. "I'm nobody's son."

"Aren't you kind of old to be thinking like that? Is Uncle Adam going to have to explain the birds and the bees to you?"

"Am I going to have to explain them to you?" Alec threw the question back. "You don't look any older than I am. Actually, I'd guess you were younger. So how could you possibly be my uncle?"

"It's entirely possible," said Adam. "Especially since Dean's my half-brother and we share a father. Except of course that Dean's only like eleven years older than I am. And no, it's not exactly time-travelling since I went into the future by dying, but if it's really 2022 that means I'm actually thirty-two." Adam looked down at his hands as though he could suddenly see wrinkles appearing on them. "I've missed more than a decade of my life."

None of that made any sense to Alec, but it had thrown Adam into a maudlin mood. Alec did his best to dispel it. "You're looking pretty well for thirty-two."

"That's because I died when I was nineteen."

Okay then. Obviously Adam was going to have a comeback for everything, crazy or not. Alec just needed to focus on getting back to TC where Adam could translate everything and then they could send him away to live his crazy life in peace.

x x x

Despite not wearing a watch, Alec could feel it getting later. He could feel as the early risers began to live up to their name. They need to get back to TC fast. He picked up the pace, but Adam lagged behind.

"I get that you're super-human or a monster or whatever," said Adam, "but I cannot keep up with you at that pace. I don't think I'm completely human at this point either, but I still need to rest every now and then. Plus we've been walking half the night."

"Well I'm not going to get caught out here so you'd better hurry up or get left behind."

"Yeah right," said Adam. "You need me for something. I don't know what it is, but it's important enough that you've let me tag along this far. And maybe it's stupid of me to go along with you when I don't know what that is, but I spent centuries with Lucifer. I'm pretty sure I can handle anything. Besides I'm pretty sure there's some kind of cosmic rule that says if two Winchesters meet, the apocalypse isn't far behind, and I kind of like you, kid."

"Watch who you're calling kid, kid."

"I'm your uncle, you should show me some respect."

"You are not my uncle. I don't have any uncles. It's genetically impossible."

Adam shrugged. "Can we at least get a cab? I haven't seen any since it's pretty obviously the middle of the night, but you've got a phone and some cash, right? We can call one."

"What?"

"A cab. You know, a taxi? A car with a driver that you can hire to take you places."

"Yes, I know what a taxi is. But, A, there aren't any around here, and B, I'm not about to let a stranger get a good look at my face."

"You let me get a good look at your face."

"I thought you were asleep."

"Yeah," said Adam. "I wish. You know how refreshing it is to sleep and not have nightmares? I thought I'd miss other things about being alive. Like sunshine and rain and my mom's chocolate chunk cookies, but nightmare free sleep is the best. Everything goes away, and then you get to wake up in the morning."

"Not if we get caught out here," said Alec.

"Hey, you're the one who has a bounty on his head or whatever. I could do whatever the hell I want. I mean, I doubt anyone in the hospital's even noticed that I'm missing yet. I could get a cab."

"Except that there are none." Somehow Alec found himself trying to argue with the crazy person again. "And even if there were, I'm not giving you cash for a ride. So short of selling yourself, I don't see how you're getting out of here before dawn with me without walking a little faster."

"Where are we going?" asked Adam, looking around.

"Terminal City," said Alec, not following Adam's train of thought.

"So I guess I'll meet you there, then," said Adam, heading down a side street toward the more populated area of the sector.

What the hell? Adam wasn't actually going to do what Alec thought he was going to do, was he?

Alec tailed the other man. Just as Adam reached the corner before the main road he untied his hospital gown and crumpled it into a ball, dropping it over the last fence. If Alec immediately ran over to grab the gown it was only because he wanted to avoid leaving behind any evidence.

Still, Adam was halfway down the block and talking to a man in a car before Alec caught up to him. Adam opened the door to get in and Alec pushed him back, climbing into the passenger seat instead.

"What's this? A two for one special?" the driver asked, licking his lips.

"No," said Alec, smashing the man's head against the steering wheel, carefully avoiding the horn. "It's really not." Thankfully this man was in no way genetically enhanced and the blow did knock him out. Alec hauled him from the car and stashed him in the alley.

"Dude," said Adam. "I don't really think that was an appropriate reaction. He just wanted to blow off some steam."

"No, he wanted _you_to blow off some steam."

Adam curled his lip. "No, that's disgusting. I don't know where he's been. I was going to let him fuck my ass. If I can even consider it my ass. I don't exactly know where this body came from and yeah it looks exactly like my old one but how do I know that Zachariah didn't just bring back molecules to make me. How do I know that he used the right ones? I mean, I'm pretty sure guys aren't meant to come back to life."

Alec frowned, not entirely certain why he cared if Adam decided he wanted to sell his ass. He supposed it was because Adam was crazy. He didn't have the mental capacity to make decisions like that. Alec wasn't going to let a guy he sort of knew get taken advantage of.

"It's just sex," said Adam. "Are you some kind of prude? That would be hilarious, I mean, Dean is so far from that. Hell he's probably paid prostitutes when he wanted sex and couldn't be bothered to flutter his eyelashes at them."

Alec didn't want to hear anything about his genetic donor. "Let's go," he said. "Someone's going to come looking for this guy and we might as well be in TC when it happens." He shoved the hospital gown at Adam. "And put this back on."

"Bossy," said Adam, but complied anyway. "I bet you get that from Dean, too."

They got into the car together, and were a block away from Terminal City's gates half an hour later. "Get out and wait here," said Alec. "I need to dump the car."

Alec parked the car a mile away, wiped any prints, removed the licence plates and left the keys in the ignition. The car was nice enough that no car thief was going to care that it had been stolen once already. No one would be able to trace it to Alec or the transgenics once it had gone through a chop shop.

x x x

Alec heard Max before he saw her. Doubtless she'd already heard he was in the city with an unknown companion.

"You," said Max, ignoring Alec and staring straight at Adam. "Don't look at anything. Don't touch anything. Don't move." She grabbed Alec by the collar. "You, come with me."

Adam had the audacity to shoot Alec a pair of thumbs up as he left.

x x x

"Explain," said Max, once they were safely locked in her office.

"Good morning Max, I'm well, thanks for asking."

"There's no time for pleasantries when you manage to screw up a routine supply run, Alec."

Alec started from the beginning, by showing Max the tranqs he'd managed to gather.

"That wasn't on the list," she said.

Alec shrugged. "Are you going to nitpick everything I did tonight, or do you just want to know why I brought a crazy guy to TC?"

"Fine," said Max. "Who is he? What's he doing here?"

"His name's Adam. I found him in the psych ward. Near as I can tell, he's a Familiar. And before you harp on about leading the enemy in, he's definitely crazy."

"And you brought him here, why exactly?"

"He can read Minoan," said Alec. "You of all people should want to know what's written on your skin, right?"

"And he's just going to help us? And not tell anyone what he reads?"

"Did you forget the part where he's crazy? No one would believe him anyway."

"You believe him."

"He trusts me," said Alec. "Thinks I'm his nephew."

Max raised an eyebrow. "That guy out there thinks you're his nephew?"

"Apparently I'm the spitting image of his brother and twenty years too young. He's looking for his brother, actually. I figure we can offer him a trade. We help him find his brother, he helps us read Minoan."

Max was still sceptical.

"Even I'll admit your boyfriend's a genius when it comes to that sort of thing," said Alec. "And if we do actually find his brother, that's got to be a lead on the Familiars and White. Our first lead since Jam Pony."

"Okay," said Max. "I'll forgive your insubordination and going AWOL on a mission. But if this doesn't pan out, you get to be the one to deal with your uncle."

x x x

Alec found Adam where he and Max had left him, however Alec hadn't expected to find him deep in conversation with Dalton.

"Hey Alec," the X6 said, straightening up and shutting up before Alec could hear exactly what they were talking about.

"What's up?" Alec directed the question at Adam, figuring he was more likely to get an answer from him.

"Dalton was telling me about the Pulse. That's some seriously messed up shit. But if they never actually caught the guys who did it, I'm thinking maybe it was actually something supernatural in origin. But Dalton doesn't seem to buy that magic exists. I totally get that, by the way. I mean I never would have believed it if ghouls didn't eat and impersonate my mom, and then me."

"That's great," said Alec. "Dalton, I need to talk to Adam alone."

"Sure," said Dalton, taking off. "Bye Alec. Bye Adam."

"He seems nice," said Adam. "Seems kind of innocent, though. Does he know about whatever it is that makes you wanted by the police?"

"Yes," said Alec. "He was there. He's wanted, too."

"Oh," said Adam. "Well, that sucks. This future kind of sucks in general, but I guess if you had to deal with the aftermath of the Pulse that would kind of set you back a bit. I bet Europe's huge in the international market which is hilarious since I'm pretty sure they were on their way down the toilet just before I died."

"Uh-huh," said Alec, not paying attention and leading Adam toward his room.

x x x

Once safely away from prying eyes and ears, Alec put their proposition before Adam. "We just need you to read some Minoan runes and in return we'll help you find your brother."

"_Brothers_, actually. Dean and Sam. But Zachariah told me they were erotically co-dependent anyway so I figure if we find one then we'll find the other. Unless one of them's in Hell, anyway. But Lucifer could talk to a few of the demons there and I think we would have heard something about that if that's where either of them ended up. So they're probably not in Hell and the angels told me that they share a heaven so if one of them was there he'd probably wait for the other one to get there. How fucked up is that? I never pissed off the angels while I was alive, but did I get to share a heaven with my mom? No. But they started the friggin' apocalypse and let Lucifer out of his cage where he did all kinds of shit before Sam dragged him back down there and took me with them. And then left me there. And they get to spend an eternity together when- actually, that sounds more like a punishment. Nevermind."

"And you actually want to find these guys?" If Alec discounted the stuff about Hell and Heaven and angels, what was left was that Adam's brothers had thrown him into a bad situation and then left him there. Alec didn't have any brothers, but he'd always heard about family loyalty. Adam's brothers didn't seem to have any.

"Well, yeah. They're the only ones who get it. I mean, you listen to me, but you think everything I'm saying is crap. They actually know and would believe everything that came out of my mouth once I convinced them that I was actually me. Plus, they should be kissing my ass for all the shit I had to endure with Lucifer and Michael. I'm willing to let them make it up to me."

That sounded naive to Alec, but what did he know? He'd spent his entire life working for a secret military organisation that didn't encourage relationships. "So are you in or out?"

"It's the best offer I can see and I've already gone along with you this far. Never would have guessed that Ancient Minoan would have any sort of value if I ever got back to the real world. I seriously only learned it because Michael had nothing else to teach and even the devil gets bored after spending a few hundred years in Hell."

"Right. Well, we know a guy who can work his mojo for us to find your brothers. He's also the guy who's got the Minoan you need to translate. But he's outside TC so we're going to have to wait until dark until we go see him."

Alec looked at his lone mattress on the floor. "I guess you can sleep here. I'll bunk in with someone else."

"That's great but you know what I'd rather have? Breakfast. And a change of clothes. Shoes would be nice, too. And socks because you can't really wear shoes without socks. They kind of chafe and your feet end up stinking like twice as much because the shoes soak up the smell."

x x x

Taking Adam to the transgenics' improvised mess hall was an experience. Alec had guessed that Adam would have the most trouble with the transhumans, so made sure to keep Adam away from those who were more intolerant of Ordinaries and even the X-series. But beyond questioning the intent of all the transhumans he encountered, Adam didn't seem to be suffering from confusion between his hallucinations and the real world.

The thing that made taking Adam to breakfast interesting was his reaction to the food. Apparently the food was better in Hell.

x x x

Alec decided it was safe enough to take his motorcycle from Terminal City to Logan's place. The discomfort of having someone else ride right behind him made up for any complaints about tiredness that Adam would have otherwise made.

"This is not what I was expecting," said Adam. "I was expecting more dusty books and dribbly candles and random herbs and, I don't know, a black cat or something."

"And what gave you that idea?"

"I thought you were taking me to a hoodoo practitioner," said Adam. "Not some glasses-wearing guy in a wheelchair." The transgenic blood had worn off and Logan hadn't been able to get another transfusion since the government had started monitoring TC.

"I'm right here," said Logan. "And I'm working on getting out of the wheelchair for good."

"Power to you," said Adam. "I don't suggest making a deal with a demon. That never works out well. Sometimes it doesn't even work out well for the demon."

"I'll keep that in mind," said Logan. He looked at Alec. "What have you brought me?"

"This is Adam. He can read Ancient Minoan."

Logan looked at Adam sceptically. "Does he have some sort of qualification or something?"

"I'm right here," Adam repeated Logan's words back to him. "Believe it or not I went to college to become a doctor. That's MD not PhD."

"And you're how old exactly?"

Alec butted in before they could get into that whole drama. "He's going to read the runes and you're going to find his brothers."

"Half-brothers," inserted Adam.

"Okay," said Logan, wheeling over to sit in front of his computers.

"Computers really haven't come very far since 2009 have they?" said Adam.

"Ignore him," said Alec.

"Where did you find him?" asked Logan.

"In a hospital," said Alec.

"In the mental ward," Adam added.

Logan's gaze fixed on Adam. "How do I know you're giving me a correct translation?"

Adam shrugged. "I guess you won't."

"You've partially translated it," said Alec. "You can figure it out from there. What do you have to lose anyway?"

Logan pulled the photographs of Max's skin from a folder and handed them to Adam.

Adam looked at them. "Are these runes on someone's skin?"

"Tell me who I'm looking for," said Logan, looking up from his keyboard expectantly.

"Dean and Sam," said Alec, trailing off when he realised he didn't know their last name.

"Winchester," Adam added. "You got a pen and paper or do you want me to recite it?" Alec grabbed a pen and paper before Logan could say anything.

"Why do those names sound familiar?" asked Logan.

Adam looked up from his translation. "They're wanted felons. And that's all you're going to be able to find out on your computer. My brothers are better than that. You know there are fuckin' sigils on my ribs so that angels can't find me?"

Logan looked back at his screen. "Here we are. Dean and Sam Winchester. Dean was born in 1979, Sam in 1983."

"That's them," said Adam, continuing to scrawl.

"It doesn't say anything about them having a brother."

"They didn't even know I existed until after I was dead," said Adam. "Dad was kind of a freak like that. And the father is unknown on my birth certificate."

"And you are?" asked Logan.

"Adam Milligan. Born in Windom, Minnesota on the 29th of September in 1990. Did you know that's the feast day of St Michael the Archangel? I didn't. Not until after I died, got sent to Hell with him and then Lucifer told me. That should have been Dean's birthday."

"1990?" said Logan.

"You may have noticed that he's crazy," said Alec.

Adam smirked. "Look me up anyway."

"Okay," said Logan. "Here's a birth certificate for an Adam Milligan, like you said. And a death certificate from 2009."

"Told you I died when I was nineteen."

"Which is how old you are now," said Logan.

"How old are you?" asked Adam. "I bet we're about the same age, chronologically."

"Chronologically?"

"You should be nicer to me, you know," said Adam. "I'm the one deciphering the ravings of a madman for you."

"How did you know that?" asked Logan.

"Takes one to know one," Alec said.

"Prove you're not completely shitty at finding my brothers and I'll let you in on the big secret," said Adam.

"Right," said Logan. "I found this footage from just before the Pulse." He hit play and continued to speak as they watched Dean and Sam Winchester shoot up some people inside a bank. "It says they died shortly after this in a shoot-out in Ankeny, Iowa."

Adam scoffed. "Yeah, right."

"You weren't kidding when you said I looked like him," said Alec, staring at the screen.

"Are you saying that's not Dean and Sam Winchester?" asked Logan.

"Well it looks like them," said Adam. "But that's probably not them. It's probably shapeshifters. Ghouls maybe. I hate ghouls. It's kind of hard to like a creature that ate you to death. It's really not a good way to go. I was so relieved when I passed out from bloodloss."

"I don't get it, even when you've got proof right in front of your face you're wilfully denying it," said Logan.

"Bodies or it didn't happen," said Adam.

"He's got a point," said Alec, reading one of Logan's screens. "It says here that Dean, was dead and buried in 2006. And that both of them were presumed dead in 2008. Looks like they're good at faking their deaths."

"Well, that also proves that they have run-ins with the law a lot. Which means that if they're still alive, they probably still do. I can run descriptions, but most of the stations don't make that sort of information accessible online anymore so it will take some time, and a lot of resources I'm not sure I can spare."

But the way that Dean looked exactly like Alec, and the Familiar connection meant that this was too important to let drop. They had to find Dean and Sam Winchester.

"So, you just proved my point," said Adam. "It takes something more than a computer to find my brothers."

"I proved that they're dead," said Logan. "Now tell me what the Minoan says."

Adam held the sheets away from Logan. "I'm starving. Have you got anything to eat?"

"Show me, and I'll cook you dinner."

"Cook me dinner and I'll finish the translation. I can't think on an empty stomach. I'm very single minded. All I can think about is how my insides are eating themselves up. My stomach lining, and then my fat stores. But I've been living on hospital food for the past month, so I don't really have many of those."

"Okay, okay, fine," said Logan. "I assume you're staying for dinner too, Alec."

Alec only smirked in response.

x x x

After a dinner which Adam deemed acceptable (and which Alec secretly thought was the best meal he'd had in years), he finally spilled the beans.

"I don't know why you don't believe me about the whole Lucifer and Michael thing when that's exactly what's written in these runes," Adam said. "I was wondering how I'd gotten out of the cage but it's all right here. The crazy guy who wrote this-"

"How do you know he's crazy?" asked Alec.

"No one sane tries to release the devil from the cage he's been trapped in for millennia. I mean sure Dean and Sam did it, but they weren't actually trying to do it, it was mostly an accident and orchestrated by the demons and the angels. Besides, no one's really sure my brothers are sane in the first place so I guess it's all moot."

"So you're saying the runes are a plan to release the devil?" asked Logan.

"No," said Adam. "I'm saying the runes are part of a spell that has already released the devil. Exactly twenty-seven days ago if I'm remembering correctly. Dude's crazy, obviously, but I've got to thank him. If he'd written the spell better, or gotten it wrong, I wouldn't be here. Since it's been over a decade since I got locked up, I'm pretty sure that means Sam and Dean were never going to find a way to get me out. That kind of sucks. We're going to have words when I see them next. And I am going to see them, because I am not just going to give up. They have to be around here somewhere."

"Uh-huh," said Logan. He looked up and pointed his finger at the door. "Get out."

Adam shrugged and stood up. "Thanks for dinner. It was nice meeting you. Well, nice probably isn't the right word for it. I was never an English major. But then, I guess I got more out of this meeting than you did. I know why I'm roaming the Earth. You apparently thought those runes meant something else."

"Hold up," said Alec. "You can't just leave. You'll be selling yourself on the nearest corner before the day is out."

"I'm not really sure why you're so opposed to me entering that profession," said Adam. "I've got this body a little longer. Might as well put it to good use."

"By seducing women in bars," said Alec. "Not by charging for it."

"I think that's a double standard," said Adam. "What do you suggest, then?"

"Take him back to the hospital where you found him," said Logan. "He obviously needs their help."

Alec didn't like that idea either, but he was having trouble thinking up a reason for it. It wasn't like Adam could tell anyone anything about TC that would actually be important.

"Fine with me," said Adam. "We can pretend this whole thing never happened."

Alec's phone rang. It was Max. "Are you still with the mental patient? Turn on the TV," she said before Alec could greet her.

Alec equalled her politeness by hanging up without saying a word, and turned the TV to the news station. A piece was playing talking about the abduction of a mental patient from the hospital, with a photo of Adam on the screen. They were blaming transgenics for the situation and telling everyone to be alert. "Well that's not going to work," said Alec. If they sent Adam back now, it would put more suspicion on the transgenic community.

"I don't remember anyone taking a picture of me," said Adam. But he was clearly facing the screen if looking a little drugged. "But that does solve one problem."

"And what would that be?" asked Logan.

"As soon as Sam and Dean see that they're going to come here."

"Why?" asked Alec.

"Because we might not get along all that well, but when someone or something shows up wearing my face, they're going to want to know why."

"What about Alec's? He's been on the footage of the transgenic situation. He's practically a spokesman."

"Good point," said Adam. "They might already in town."

x x x

It was deemed too risky to take Adam back to TC, and since they couldn't let him roam Seattle on his own, that left Alec to watch him. Since Logan refused to let them stay with him, Alec took them back to his old apartment. He'd been paying a guy to watch the place, hoping he'd still be around to use it one day. Alec let Adam sleep in his bed, mostly because it was easier to keep watch from the couch and not because he kind of felt bad for the guy.

They were going to have to stay away from TC and other transgenics until attention on the supposed kidnapping died down. Alec didn't see that lasting longer than a week so he made no long term plans to stay. In fact, there was already enough food stocked in the pantry to keep Alec alive for a month. They wouldn't even need to go grocery shopping.

The hardest part of laying low was that Adam wanted to go out all the time, to lead his brothers back to him. Alec insisted that that would also draw out the people from the hospital, the police, and anyone with an anti-transgenic agenda, including the Familiars. Luckily Adam was no Houdini, and his escapes were easily thwarted. But what Adam really needed was to understand why they were hiding in the first place. Alec was forced to give him a crash course in Manticore history.

"So you're part cat," was all that Adam seemed to get out of that conversation.

x x x

Two days after Alec and Adam's self-imposed house arrest began, Normal called Alec. "There were two guys sniffing around here," he said. "I didn't tell them anything, but I just checked and your file is missing."

Since he'd gotten rid of his file himself, he didn't think that was a big deal. Seeming to realise that, Normal said, "I keep copies."

"And you didn't get rid of them after the siege?"

"I thought they might come in handy for something."

"What did these guys look like? Government? Hospital?"

"Funny thing was, one of them looked a lot like you," said Normal. "Tried to convince me he was your father. But everyone knows you are what you are. I didn't tell them anything, even though I figured they might be your kind."

"Well they're not," said Alec. "So thanks for that."

There was a knock on the door. It couldn't be a coincidence.

"Don't tell Max," said Alec. "Actually, just tell her I'm fine." He hung up the phone and opened the door.

Alec had thought he was mentally prepared to see his older doppelganger, but the sight still threw him for a seemed to be having the same reaction to him. "Hey there, son," he said.

"I'm not your son," said Alec. Though as screwed up and dysfunctional as it was, Alec kind of wished he was. That he had an origin story that was less clinical than a need to create the perfect soldier.

Alec stepped aside and let Dean and Sam in without further explanation on either part. He shut the door.

Dean and Sam were scoping the room covertly, noting the exits, and Alec was kind of proud of them, even though he had no reason to be. "Nice place," said Sam.

"Used to belong to a guy who used statistics to tell the future."

"Sweet," said Dean.

"I'm guessing you know why we're here, then," said Sam. "And who we are."

"Dean and Sam Winchester," said Alec. "Adam's asleep. He does that a lot."

Both brothers focused on him.

"Adam?" said Sam. "He's not, uh..."

"Answering to the name Michael? Or suffering from amnesia?" asked Dean.

"No," said Alec. Hearing the questions made Alec feel relieved. Whatever Logan had dug up was a coincidence. These were just two guys looking for their crazy brother. Or son, maybe. All the stuff about angels and demons was just a hallucination.

"And he's sleeping?" said Sam. "You've seen him sleep."

"It's his favourite part of the day," said Alec. "You can see it now."

Sam and Dean both walked toward the bedroom and peered through the door. They both seemed surprised by what they saw.

"Is that really Adam?" Sam asked.

"Don't get your hopes up," said Dean. He withdrew a flask from his pocket and sprinkled water from it onto Adam's skin.

"What are you doing?" Alec asked. When he saw Dean remove a knife from his jacket and lift one of Adam's hands, he blurred over and grappled for the weapon before he could think about it. Dean put up more of a fight than Alec expected from an older Ordinary, but it still took both Dean and Sam to subdue him, so they weren't Familiar or transgenics. "What are you doing?" Alec repeated.

"We're not trying to hurt him," said Sam. "We just need to make sure that Adam is really Adam."

Adam had woken up during the commotion and was sitting on the bed and blinking at them. "Let him go," he said.

Dean and Sam eyed Alec warningly for a moment, then released him, taking a step back. Their movements were perfectly in sync, as though they'd been fighting together their entire lives.

Adam stepped up to Dean and Sam as though seeing them for the first time. Though if what he said was true, he hadn't seen them in a long time.

"Silver knife," said Dean, holding it up. "You know we have to make sure."

Adam held his hand out, and Dean placed the knife handle in it. Adam took the knife and sliced a thin line along the palm of his hand. A few drops of red blood slid out. Alec wondered what sort of ritual this was. They hadn't fought like Familiars and Alec was beginning to doubt that there was a connection there.

"Adam," Sam said. Both his and his brother's faces dropped their guards, making them look as young as their lined faces would let them.

"Wait," said Adam. "I could still be a ghoul."

Sam shook his head. "A ghoul can only take the form of its last meal. If you were still in the cage there's no way a ghoul could eat you."

"What if I got out and then it ate me?"

Dean looked at Alec. "He ever eaten human flesh? Dead or alive? Drink anything that looked like blood?"

Alec grimaced. "No."

"I could be hiding it."

"It's pretty unlikely," said Sam. "The ghoul population's pretty well decimated. You were definitely at the hospital for almost a month and I don't know why a ghoul would do that-"

"We don't even know why _you_would do that," said Dean.

"And the fact that you keep trying to convince us that you're a ghoul is a pretty good indicator that you're not."

"Maybe I'm just trying to figure out if you are who you say you are."

Dean and Sam took swigs from the flask, then cut themselves along their arms with the silver knife.

"If we were ghouls," said Dean. "We wouldn't be here looking for you. And before you ask, he's not a ghoul either. Because if I was his last meal, I wouldn't be here right now."

"Okay," said Adam. "I believe you." Adam lifted his arm and took a swing at both Dean and Sam, socking them both on the jaw.

Dean and Sam rubbed their jaws. "Yeah, we kind of deserved that," said Dean.

"More than that," said Adam. "I mean, okay, maybe you couldn't figure out how to get me out of the cage even though it's been over ten years. But I've been out for a month now."

"We've been here the past fortnight focused on him," said Sam, pointing at Alec. "We had no idea you were out. How are you out?"

"I had no idea," said Adam. "But apparently some crazy dude really wanted to free Lucifer. Started a cult and everything. Made him and his friends and when the time was right, activated a spellform in freakin' Minoan of all things, that opened the cage."

"I knew we had to learn Minoan," said Sam.

"I still don't know how," said Dean. "Not enough of the runes survived."

"Well someone figured it out," said Adam. "Years before you opened the cage."

"I'm sorry," said Dean. "We suck. But we have to look at the bigger picture here. If you're out, Lucifer and Michael are out, too." Dean looked at Sam. "Have you been having dreams?"

"What? No. I wouldn't hide something like that from you." Dean stared at his brother. "Again," said Sam. "We've been a well-oiled machine the past few years, haven't we?"

"A well-oiled machine that couldn't get me out of Hell," said Adam.

"You're never going to stop bringing that up, are you?"

"No," said Adam. "Not until I'm well and truly bored with it. And thanks to spending over a thousand years in Hell, I've learned to overcome boredom."

"So, uh," Sam began. "I know you're pissed that we didn't manage to get you out, but do you want to come with us anyway? I completely understand if you want to try to live a normal life. You've still got the Enochian, right? No one has to know."

"Are you completely insane?" asked Adam. "I can't live a normal life. I died. I was resurrected. I went to Hell." Dean opened his mouth. "Shut up," Adam snapped. "I played vessel to Michael the friggin' archangel. Even if I didn't want to find him and kick his ass, I still wouldn't be able to live a normal life."

"Plus there's the fact that you can't stop yourself from saying everything that comes to the top of your head," said Alec.

"That too," said Adam. "I'm just not."

"What's this about having no filter?" asked Sam.

"I don't think it's anything supernatural," said Adam. "I think I'm just used to being around people who could already hear everything that was going on in my head. Got used to not caring what anyone thought."

"All things considered," said Dean. "It's not the worst thing that could happen."

"Even Lucifer got tired of the torture after a few hundred years," said Adam. "Michael started teaching me languages just to pass the time."

"And Minoan was one of them?"

"It came in handy," said Adam.

"You'll have to teach me," said Sam.

"It will only take a few years," said Adam. "I like to think I'm a better teacher than Michael."

"So, kid," said Dean, putting his hand on Alec's shoulder. "Got any plans for the near future?"

"Other than creating a pro-transgenic revolution?" asked Alec.

"Don't worry about that," said Dean. "Sam's got it covered."

Alec looked at the tallest brother.

"It's amazing what you can do with a law degree," said Sam with a smirk.

"Career advice?"

"A practical observation," said Sam. "Here's another one: you and Adam seem to be getting along."

"He's not all bad," said Alec.

"You probably would have taken down my brother if I hadn't been there to stop you," said Sam.

"That's not fair," said Dean. "He's got twenty years on me. I was at my peak when I was his age."

"There are a lot of monsters out there, you know," said Sam. "And I don't mean people with a little animal DNA spliced in. Not least the devil."

"And all this means what, exactly?" Alec was tempted by the idea of fighting monsters. Doing what he was created to do in a different sense.

"It means you're welcome to come with us, if you want."

"Hey, no fair," said Adam. "He doesn't get the 'You could have a normal life' speech?"

"If he wanted one he'd already have one," said Dean. It was true. When Manticore first burned down, Alec hadn't had to stay in Seattle, around his own kind. He could easily have blended into the population, gotten a job away from other transgenics and lived a normal life. But apart from time spent with Rachel, Alec had never longed for a boring life. He didn't want one now.

"I just need to know one thing," said Alec. "Why do I look like you?"

"Dad was a Marine," said Dean. "Manticore kept track of all of them, looking for the right genes to splice together. I guess they decided mine were good for something."

"We found your DNA sequence," said Sam. "Got it tested against Dean's. You are his clone, if a little modified."

"And what does that mean?" asked Alec.

"You're a Winchester," said Dean.

"You're already cursed," said Sam.

"Then it's a good thing I don't believe in curses," said Alec.

"You will," said Dean.

"Does that mean you're in?" asked Sam.

"Eh," said Alec. "Why the hell not?"

"Awesome," said Dean, squeezing his shoulder tight.

Alec smiled. It could be.

x X X x

**A/N:** Thanks for reading!


End file.
